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P1Q/C5
PERQUIMASS COUBTT LIBHAHT
110 W ACADEMY ST
HERTFORD, HC 27944-1306
The
1/9/2006
January 11, 2006
^ Vol, 74, No, 2 Hertford, North Carolina 27944
iLm^UIMANS
Weekly
JAN I I 2005
Brothers indicted for Gallaway theft
MARGARET FISHER
Two brothers were
indicted after being appre
hended for stealing two
cars at Gallaway Auto
Outlet back in September.
Justin Davenport, 19,
and Jessie Davenport, 18,
both of 308 Manteo Trail,
Edenton, were apprehend
ed in their vehicle by
Chowan County Sheriff’s
Office on Nov. 4 for unrelat
ed reasons. The officer who
had stopped the brothers
found, in their vehicle, a
dealer’s license plate and
car keys that were report
edly stolen from Gallaway
in September, said
Perquimans County Sheriff
Eric Tilley.
Deputy Shelby White
then received a call from
Chowan Sheriff’s Office to
investigate the matter fur
ther. On Nov. 7, White went
to the home of the
Davenport brothers’ par
ents in Roper, where the
brothers were then resid
ing, and retrieved a $1,100
remote control monster
truck that had also been
stolen from the auto dealer
ship.
The theft occurred on
Sept. 10 at the dealership at
the intersection of Ocean
Highway and New Hope
Road. The door was found
kicked open and the keys to
two vehicles were taken,
along with the dealer plate
and remote control truck.
The Davenports allegedly
drove off in the direction of
New Hope with two vehi
cles taken off the lot.
The cars were later
retrieved by T.G. Weeks,
general manager of
Gallaway One vehicle had
run out of gas in New Hope
and the other was stuck in
a soybean field.
The Davenport brothers
were both indicted and
charged on Dec. 12 with
injury to real property,
breaking and entering, lar
ceny after breaking and
entering, breaking and
entering of a motor vehicle
and larceny of a motor
vehicle.
Both suspects were
taken to Albemarle District
Jail each on a $6,500 bond,
and both were released,
Tilley said.
I
i
P
WinfaU
bridge gets
widened
MARGARET FISHER
After 10 years of making requests to
the N.C. Department of Transportation,
the town of WinfaU is getting the narrow
bridge on Wiggins Road widened.
Frequent traffic from the nearby cot
ton gin and tractor-trailer rigs make the
bridge that crosses MUl Creek unsafe if
two should happen to cross it at the same
time.
“That thing is an accident waiting to
happen,” said WinfaU Mayor Fred Yates.
The water lines wiU begin to be
moved and DOT will foUow with widen
ing the bridge next Tuesday, Yates said.
The deadline to complete the job is Feb.
15.
“We’re waiting on the water lines to
move,” Yates said. “They’re going to
speed up the permit process and make
the bridge wider.”
The idea began about 10 years ago
when the town wanted to upgrade
Wiggins Road from a secondary road to a
primary one because of the heavy vehi
cles that use the road. The upgrade could
not be done because of the narrow
bridge. Each year, WinfaU made a
request to DOT to have the road
widened.
In 2004, DOT agreed to widen it in
2005. Permit delays held the job up
because gas and water lines needed to be
moved. The sewer line, in place going on
three years now, had been instaUed so as
not to conflict with the widening of the
Continued on page 4
The eagle has landed
1H
 ,
^
-'g/- . ■
\
\ ,
Joshua Lassiter of Belvidere caught this majestic eagle resting in a tree near the
Lassiter home during the holidays.
County must
purch^
new voting
machines
MARGARET FISHER
The deadline for the Perquimans
County Board of Elections to make a
decision on what voting machines they
wUl purchase is less than two weeks
away. By Jan. 20, the board must sign a
contract with a vendor or the county wiU
lose the $106,000 Help America Vote Act
Election Fxmd grant.
MeanwhUe, the Perquimans County
Board of Commissioners has submitted
a letter to Governor Mike Easley, Sen.
Robert Lee Holloman and Howard
Hvmter Jr. asking them to delay the use
of the new voting machines from the
May to November elections.
If the delay is accepted, this could
aUow more time for other vendors to
meet the state’s requirements and possi
bly slip back into the state’s bidding
pool. Currently, Elections Systems &
Software is the only company on the
state’s list since two other companies
dropped out.
“If the state delays implementation, I
don’t know what kind of ramifications
wiU happen,” said County Manager
Bobby Darden.
The county is now required to pur
chase new voting machines after the
state decertified machines in 94 coun
ties. The new voting machines wRl pro
vide backup paper receipts.
Continued on page 10
County asks Navy to go south
MARGARET FISHER
Perquimans County
Commissioners are urging the
U.S. Navy to look at two addi
tional sites, along with the five
they are currently considering,
to build an outlying landing
field.
Commissioners, along with
15 other counties under the
Northeast Partnership, have
written the Navy asking them
to consider two locations in the
Marine Corp Air Station
Cherry Point economic region
- Open Grounds Farms in
Carteret County and Oak
Grove OLF and the surround
ing acres in Craven and Jones
counties.
WhUe the Navy is conduct
ing a supplemental environ
mental impact study in
Perquimans, Washington,
Bertie, Hyde and Craven coun
ties, No OLF supporters have
been asking the Navy why it
doesn’t look at alternative sites
that would welcome the air
field.
The Navy is presently focus
ing its attention mainly on an
area of Washington and
Beaufort counties.
In a resolution passed by
commissioners on Jan. 2,
Perquimans County views an
OLF as having a negative eco
nomic impact because it would
condemn about 30,000 acres of
land while providing no tax
able income and displace a
number of homes and farms.
The county hopes that the
Navy win look at the two sites
that are located further south
in an area that benefits eco
nomically because of two
squadrons being located there.
The Navy plans to build an
airstrip for F/A-18 Super
Hornet aircraft to practice
touch-and-go maneuvers on a
simulated footprint of an air
craft carrier. Squadrons sup
port Naval Air Station Oceana,
Va., and Cherry Point.
“If (residents around
Cherry Point) are going to get
the economic benefit, then they
can get the rest. Take the bad
with the good,” said County
Manager Bobby Darden.
The resolution is also being
sent to the governor’s office,
Darden said.
Craven County wanted the
OLF at one time, but that site
was never seriously studied,
said Stan Winslow, organizer
for the Perquimans County
Chapter of North Carolinians
Opposed to the OLF. In addi
tion, Open Grounds Farm has
about 40,000 acres available, he
said.
“I think it’s a good thing to
consider more sites,” Winslpw
said. There would be some
impact in Craven County, but
almost none in Carteret
County, he said.
No OLF supporters in the
Belvidere area where the OLF
has been considered have been
keeping track of bird popula
tions there. The Navy’s origi
nal EIS was found to be defi
cient by the Fourth Circuit
Appeals Court last fall. One of
the supplemental studies the
Navy is now conducting has to
do with large migratory bird
populations.
“We have had a tremendous
population of tundra swan
since early December,”
Winslow said. “...We have also
had multiple sightings of a
pair of bald eagles.”
No OLF organizers are send
ing out letters this month to
residents within the OLF zone
with maps and information
concerning the possibility of
an OLF in Perquimans County
Injuries minor in two-car wreck
MARGARET FISHER
An accident at the intersection of
Church Street and U.S. Highway 17
resulted in minor injuries and one
driver charged with failing to stop
at a red light.
Last Thursday at about 10:45
a.m., Stacie Hope Williams, 21, of
29050 U.S. Highway 64, Jamesville,
was traveling south on Ocean
Highway through the intersection
at Church Street. Williams alleged
ly failed to stop when the light
changed to red, said Hertford Police
Chief Dale Vanscoy, who responded
to the caU.
At the same time, Roger Lee
Turner, 59, of 1766 Belvidere Road,
was attempting to cross from
Church Street over to Harvey Point
Road. Turner’s 1994 Ford pickup
truck hit WUliams’ 1990 Chrysler.
The impact caused Williams’ vehi
cle to spin 180 degrees and head
into a ditch in front of the Popeye’s
restaurant with the car facing
north, Vanscoy said. Turner’s truck
came to a stop in the intersection.
Emergency Management
Services and Hertford Fire
Department responded. Williams
suffered minor cuts from broken
glass and was treated by EMS,
Vanscoy said. Turner was treated
by EMS and transported to Chowan
Hospital where he was treated for
lower back pain and released.
Wtlli2uns was charged with fail
ure to stop at a traffic light.
“(Williams) said that she didn’t
have time to stop,” Vanscoy said.
A witness who had driven into
the intersection behind Turner said
that Turner had a green light and
that Williams’ car almost hit his
vehicle, too, Vanscoy said.
Weekend
Weather
Thursday
High: 71, Low: 48
Partly Gjoudy
Friday
High: 68, Low:55
Mostly Cloudy
Saturday
High: 59, Low: 45
Showers